Chapter 114 CHAPTER 114
The moment Lisa stepped into the classroom, the noise died.
It wasn’t abrupt, not like a command barked into the air, but it happened all the same. Conversations faded mid-sentence. Laughter softened and then vanished entirely. Chairs stopped scraping. It was the kind of quiet that usually followed a teacher’s entrance, heavy with attention and expectation, except this time there was no authority figure at the door - only her.
Lisa paused for half a second, caught off guard by the stillness that had formed around her. Dozens of eyes turned in her direction, some curious, some cautious, others openly unsure. She felt it then, that invisible line the students were drawing without meaning to - a boundary shaped not by fear, but by respect, uncertainty, and the knowledge that she was no longer just another girl in class.
She didn’t know what to do with it.
Greeting them felt too formal. Ignoring it felt rude. So she did the only thing that felt natural - she reached for her bag as Liam handed it to her, gave him a small nod, and walked toward her seat as if nothing had changed.
The silence slowly loosened behind her, whispers returning in careful fragments, but it never fully disappeared. It hovered, present but restrained.
When she reached her desk, Lisa stopped again, surprised to see Ella already seated beside it.
Ella - the new student had moved.
The girl looked up at her with a soft smile, one that held none of the hesitation Lisa had felt from the rest of the class. “Good morning,” she said quietly. Then, after a brief pause, she added, “It’s a little… awkward, isn’t it?”
Lisa let out a small breath that was half a laugh. “That obvious?”
Ella nodded lightly. “They don’t mean anything bad by it. I think they’re just not sure how to act around you yet.”
“I wish they wouldn’t act at all,” Lisa admitted as she sat down. “I just want to be a normal student.”
“Give it time,” Ella said easily. “Ice melts. Especially when people realize you’re not someone they need to be afraid of.”
Lisa tilted her head, studying her. “And you? Why aren’t you keeping your distance?”
Ella shrugged. “Because I’m different.”
The answer was said simply, without drama or explanation, and Lisa didn’t press. Something told her Ella wouldn’t elaborate even if asked.
As the teacher hadn’t arrived yet, Lisa leaned back slightly in her chair, her gaze drifting across the room. That was when her thoughts circled back, uninvited, to the parking lot. To Sebastian. To the way he had approached her as if the past were something he could casually explain away, something he still owned.
The irritation simmered low in her chest.
“Celia, “she called quietly in her mind. “Did you see how he acted” I don’t understand why he would approach me at all. Do you think something happened to him as well due to the ritual?”
“Oh, I understand perfectly,” Celia replied. “And it has nothing to do with the ritual.”
“You don’t think it affected him at all?”
“Not in the way you’re thinking,” Celia said. “He remembers everything. The confidence. The entitlement. The way he spoke - it wasn’t confusion. It was assumption.”
Lisa’s jaw tightened. “He still thinks I’m the same girl from Silverpine.”
‘Exactly,” Celia said. “Which is why ignoring him was wise. Did you see how angry he became when you walked away?”
Lisa almost smiled. “I did.”
“For how long do you plan to keep doing it? Ignoring him?” Celia Chuckled.
Lisa considered that as she watched Sebastian enter the classroom. He stopped just inside the doorway, his eyes locking onto hers instantly. There was no warmth there now, only tension and something sharper beneath it.
“Not forever,” Lisa answered. “But not today. Let him sit with it. Let him feel what silence does.”
“You’re enjoying this,” Celia teased gently.
“Maybe a little,” Lisa admitted. “It turns out I don’t need to say anything at all to make my point.”
Sebastian took a few steps forward, hesitating as if weighing his options. His gaze flicked briefly toward Ella, then back to Lisa. Ella noticed it too.
“Is there something going on between you and the Moore kid?” she whispered.
Lisa didn’t look away from the front of the room. “No.”
Ella frowned slightly. “What was that he was going on about when he thought I was the princess? Are you sure there was nothing there?”
“Yes,” Lisa said firmly. At least now I am, she added silently to herself.
Sebastian started forward again, determination flickering across his face, but halfway there, his resolve faltered. He stopped, exhaled sharply, and turned instead toward his own seat, dropping into it with more force than necessary.
Frustration burned under his skin.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
He had thought it would be easy - an awkward conversation, maybe an apology, something familiar he could navigate using the version of Cindy he had always known. But the girl in front of him now was nothing like that. She didn’t shrink. She didn’t look at him for direction. She didn’t even acknowledge him.
And worse, he could feel it.
Even without Kael’s presence, even without the grounding force of his wolf, there was something about her that pressed against him. Power. Quiet, controlled, undeniable. It made his instincts bristle, made him aware of how unbalanced he truly was.
How am I supposed to approach her now? he wondered grimly.
The council at Silverpine expected results. They had spoken of apologies, of reconciliation, of salvaging what little goodwill remained. He had believed that simply showing up would be enough. That belief now felt laughably naive.
Cindy was gone.
And Lisa - Princess of Mooncrest - was someone he did not understand at all.
As the teacher finally entered the room and the lesson began, Sebastian forced his attention forward, but his thoughts stayed tangled in frustration. The day was still young, he told himself. He still had time.
If he could get even a single word from her by the end of it, he would count that as a victory.